Northampton Town manager John Brady has stated that everyone will have to be on their game on Saturday to earn three points for his side as promotion-chasers Derby County visit Sixfields Stadium.
The Cobblers were promoted from League Two last season alongside Stevenage, Carlisle United and Leyton Orient and have had a successful year so far. They sit in 14th position in League One on 50 points.
A big part of them reaching the 50-point mark is down to forward Sam Hoskins, who is on 14 goals for the season and is the club’s top scorer. To put that into context, the second highest is fellow attacker Kieron Bowie with eight.
Derby, meanwhile are chasing a return to the Championship. They were agonisingly close last season finishing in seventh, just one point off the play-offs. The Rams currently sit in second and have a four-point buffer to third-placed Bolton Wanderers following their 1-0 win over them last weekend.
Brady’s side have struggled recently taking just 10 points from a possible 30 available, with defeats in the last two matches. The gaffer has admitted everyone will have to be on their game. Speaking to the official website, he was hopeful:
“Derby have had a strong season and they are fighting for automatic promotion.
“I’m sure they will come here targeting the three points and we know that for us to compete at this level we need every single player to be at their best.
“We need to be really good at what we do and against Derby we need to be even better than that.
“The most important thing for us on Saturday is to get our performance right and if we can perform at our best we give ourselves a chance.
“Recently we haven’t been as consistent in our performances and against Derby especially we need to be consistent from the first whistle to the last.
“If we do that we may have a chance and we will be doing everything we can to get things right on Saturday.
“We worked extremely hard last year to have games like this, we are not just here to make up the numbers and we have shown that this season.
“Overall we are still in a very good position in the league with seven games to go and we want to put in a strong showing on Saturday.”
On a weekend dominated by an international break, this match is one of only three games in League One. Carlisle host play-off chasers Stevenage and Burton Albion welome Port Vale to the Pirelli Stadium in the other two fixtures.
Following the game against Derby, Town face an Easter double-header against crisis club Reading and relegation candidates Port Vale.
Writer’s View
One of the best bits of business the Cobblers have managed recently is keeping hold of Sam Hoskins, who committed his future to the club in August. He already has 14 goals this season and has been scoring for fun the last few seasons.
Brady will be delighted with how this season has gone, as many will have expected his side to struggle following promotion from League Two. To sit comfortably in mid-table is an extremely good season.
If they can sign a few players in the summer to build the team around the likes of Hoskins, they have the potential to build on this next season.
